This morning we head off to the Valley of Elah. This is where David slew Goliath and then we return to the Old City again for exploration and shopping. More later.
It is now 11:43 p.m. and Marty and I just returned from dinner at a Moroccan restaurant, Darna, in Jerusalem. We were invited out to dinner by one of our fellow travelers, Margie, in appreciation of us being with her and helping her out during the trip. It was a wonderful dinner and the restaurant was very Moroccan in decor.
Today was a very full day, as I said we started out in the Valley of Elah. This is in the Judean Hills and from the top of a Tel (a mound which contains several layers of civilizations built on top of each other) we were able to see the area from which David slew Goliath, over 3000 years ago. This is also the valley that is depicted in the 23rd Psalm referring to David's anticipation of his battle with Goliath.
We stopped for lunch before proceeding to our next destination.
From there we went to the Museum on the Seam. This is a museum that was built in a former fortress which sat on the boundary between East and West Jerusalem. East Jerusalem previously being part of Jordan. The curator and creator of this museum focuses on themes having to do with the conflict between Palestinians and Israeli and the current exhibit has pieces that represent both physically and metaphorically the pain, anguish and anxiety felt by people of both sides. The curator went through the exhibit and explained many of the pieces as we went along and was very passionate in as he expressed his belief that there is no simple solution to this conflict and that dividing neighborhoods that are currently entwined is not the solution, but rather that (simply) people become more humane and recognize the need to accept and get along with each other. It was a very moving as well as disturbing exhibit and illustrated yet another view of life in Israel.
From the museum we returned to the Old City for more shopping. Yesterday, we shopped at the Cardo (in the Jewish Quarter) and today I wanted to return to a particular stall in the Arab Quarter. The man who ran this shop, from which I had purchased several scarves yesterday, had developed a crush on me and offered several deals, including giving me some free gifts; such as a coral necklace; a silver chain, a scarf and several boxes (inlaid) to house the jewelry I bought as gifts. He was disappointed when I introduced him to Marty, who was sitting on a chair in the corner. But non-the-less, I did receive items at a good price, including scarves which I paid as little as $2.00 a piece for. I brought a couple of other fellow travelers to purchase items there and he was very appreciative, offering Turkish coffee and sweet mint tea as part of his hospitality.
With bags laden with items, we loaded back on the bus and returned to the hotel, where we had about 20 minutes before joining the study session before dinner. This study session focused particularly on the story of David and Goliath and compared it to some themes having to do with Joseph (with the coat of many colors). It was a very interesting discussion but I was so tired from the day, I did not say much.
Tonight we were invited out by Margie, to a restaurant called Darna. This is an authentic Moroccan restaurant. The ambiance was perfect and the food was fabulous. We arrived for 8 p.m. reservations and before we knew it it was 11:30. Dinner started with an array of salads before the main course which was an assortment of tagines, each more delicious than the next. The dessert was a thin fried pastry topped with cinnamon, nuts and honey.
It is late now and I am pretty tired. Tomorrow is the first day we will not receive a wake up call and is more of a free day. As it will be Shabbat, many of the stores (except the Arab stores) will close about 1 p.m., so we plan to go to the Old City in the morning to pick up my ring and earings and any other items we want. Later in the afternoon, Marty and I will go to the Wall to celebrate Shabbat.
No comments:
Post a Comment